What is Force-placed Insurance or Lender-Placed Insurance? It’s Not Good for Florida Home Owners. Here’s Why.

Larry Tolchinsky | May 15, 2012

Where will all the strings of Foreclosure Fraud end?  Who knows, because more and more issues just keep popping up from the huge mortgage fraud mess in Florida and across the country.  The latest?  Forced-placed insurance, also known as Lender-placed insurance, and the sneaky burdens it’s creating for American families and Florida home owners. What [...]

Florida Home Owners Stress Levels on the Rise: New Laws Mean Flood of 1099Cs, Foreclosure Upswing in 2012 – 2013

Larry Tolchinsky | March 8, 2012

It’s very stressful to be a Florida home owner dealing with an underwater mortgage or defaulting on a home loan.  Your credit rating is getting zapped, there are all the collection practices by the mortgage lender to juggle, and then there’s the legal process itself – strategizing with your lawyer on your home and mortgage [...]

Future of Florida Deficiency Judgments on Florida Home Mortgages – Will New Laws Limit or End Bank’s Ability to Sue for Unpaid Mortgage Balance?

Larry Tolchinsky | February 23, 2012

This week, the proposed Florida Fair Foreclosure Act got one step closer to becoming law when the Florida State Senate Judiciary Committee okayed the foreclosure bill.  In the near future, the Florida Legislature should be voting on this proposal and you can track the progress of  this bill (SB 1890) online here. This is a [...]

10 Things to Know About Mortgage Debt Collectors and Florida Short Sales, Florida Foreclosures, and Florida Home Loan Modifications

Larry Tolchinsky | February 2, 2012

In Florida, countless home owners are facing the lose of their home to foreclosure because they can’t continue to make their mortgage payments due to lost jobs, medical expenses, and other life events.  Other home owners have mortgages that are much, much larger than the fair market value of their homes and they are wondering [...]

Five Things To Know About The Income Tax Break For Short Sales, Foreclosures, and Loan Modifications That Ends December 2012

Larry Tolchinsky | January 26, 2012

As discussed in our earlier post, a major tax break will end on December 31, 2012, that helps Florida home owners facing foreclosures, negotiating loan modifications, or working on a short sale of their home.  For several years, a federal law has exempted the amount that isn’t covered by the foreclosure or short sale or [...]

How the Federal Servicing Alignment Initiative Helps Florida Home Owners Wanting to Short Sale

Larry Tolchinsky | January 17, 2012

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) implemented the federal Servicing Alignment Initiative last year and, in 2012, this new federal incentive plan should boost the number of short sales here in Florida, which is great news for home owners wanting to avoid a foreclosure. What is the Servicing Alignment Initiative? The Servicing Alignment Initiative is [...]

Florida Short Sales: Should You Short Sale Your Florida Home in 2012?

Larry Tolchinsky | December 27, 2011

Here we are at the end of a stressful financial year for South Florida, and it’s time for all those New Year’s Resolutions to be made for 2012.  Finances are considered, plans are made…and for Florida homeowners with underwater mortgages or with defaulting home loans who are sitting in homes with the stress of a [...]

Florida Mortgage Mediation Program Closes Its Doors: What This Means for Florida Home Owners Facing Foreclosure

Larry Tolchinsky | December 22, 2011

The Florida Supreme Court’s top judge just signed an order on December 19, 2011, that shut the doors on the Florida Managed Foreclosure Mediation Program that the Supreme Court had set up back in 2009.  You can read the Administrative Order (AOSC11-44) signed by Chief Justice Charles Canady online here. What happened? Back in 2009, the [...]

Florida Homeowners Win One Battle in Foreclosure Fraud as Florida Appeals Court Rules In Their Favor in McLean v. J.P. Morgan Chase

Larry Tolchinsky | December 20, 2011

The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeals just issued an opinion that is a very big deal for Florida homeowners everywhere – but especially those who are facing foreclosure as well as those with underwater mortgages who are wondering what their future holds.  In Robert McLean v. J.P. Morgan Chase, as Trustee, Florida’s homeowners won [...]

Florida Foreclosure Defense Basics: The Difference Between Your Note and Your Mortgage and Your Deed of Trust (and Why You Should Care About This)

Larry Tolchinsky | December 15, 2011

Florida home owners – especially those in trouble on their home loans and considering foreclosure, short sale, or what to do about their underwater mortgage – need to know the difference between some of the documents that they signed long ago when they bought their home. Note, Mortgage, Deed of Trust: what are they, what [...]